You Left Me in The Dark: Cosmic Love
by kataang4u
Summary: I crawled in the bed only to feel Percy's weight occupy the other half. We sat cross-legged, facing one another -Set in TLO, when Annabeth gets stabbed & the aftermath, Annabeth trying to convince Percy she can still fight then Percy being overprotective
1. The Stabbing

**Hey! Long time - no write. You guys probably hate me, I know.. But I'm putting my eclare stories on hold, to begin a whole new world of Percy Jackson creations! :D **

**Oh, and I maaay have changed the part in Battle of Labrynith when Percy came back from Calypso's cave.. a smidge.. okay, a lot. And the war. It's longer. More like four and a half days longer? Don't hate me. Flame-o, guys. Flameeo. **

**Worth continuing? No? Yes? lemme know with those reviews, please! ;D**

**xoxo -Kataang (:**

_Percy_

Annabeth slumped next to me; the knife's would was deep. I couldn't get the vision of the deep green ring around the wound out of my head, so it was stuck there, and probably would be forever, in the center of my mind.

She was mumbling about how she'd need to be better soon for the _"big fight, the real one." _and how she _"won't let me go in alone." _I rolled my eyes, wondering if she would be better in time for any battle, if I'd let her ever go out on the field ever again. I was scared that she'd go out and get hurt again.

The Hermes cabin seemed sure that if we fed her enough nectar, she'd be fine. Me, on the other hand, I wasn't too sure. She was still shivering real bad. I leaned down and pressed my lips to her forehead; the fever was still apparent.

"We should move her to a room," Travis said as he passed by, bandaging one of the kids from the Athena cabin.

"Sure," I replied as I eyed Annabeth again. She wouldn't sleep anytime soon, but didn't look comfortable in the lobby's couch that probably couldn't fit more than two people sitting.

I uncovered her, "Hey!" she groaned, "You could leave me here, I'm fine, Percy."

"Annabeth, you were stabbed. With a poison knife. Any other normal mortal would die, which you're half. C'mon," I said as I hoisted her sickingly warm and light body into my arms, feeling her's wrap behind my neck.

"Don't.. Don't d-drop me!" she cried, her perception probably off. It probably looked like she was on top of Olympus.

I chuckled as I carried her to the elevator, and punched the 2nd floor button. I could feel her chest moving up and down slowly. I thought back to when I came home from Calypso's cave. How Annabeth sobbed about how I was the bravest person she'd known.

_Flashback_

"_Percy had been the bravest person I knew. He was.. He was.. one of my best friends. He was a huge Seaweed Brain, but I didn't even care. All I can say is, Percy, I miss you already."_

Chiron patted her back, then led her down the aisle that had been created, like it was set up for a wedding, people on each side in fold up chairs watching people talk about me.

Just then, Annabeth and I locked eye contact. I motioned for her to come behind the docks with me. She looked shocked, but excused herself and ran out to find me.

_"It's an illusion, I know it is. I'm in grieving. I'm probably seeing him because I can't process the fact that he's gone," _She murmured, but when I caught her arm, she immeadiately wrapped her arms around me, and I watched as one tear ran down her red cheek. She squeezed me to her, and I held her for about fifteen seconds before she spoke again, way too early for me.

_"You're dead. And me, I'm dreaming. I don't care, this works, too."_

_ "You're not dreaming at all, I'm not dead. I'm perfectly fine."_

She gave me a surprised look, her bright gray eyes rimmed with red.

_"No.. Iris couldn't reach you. Our prayers weren't going through.. This isn't logical.." _

I laughed. Typical Annabeth would try to come up with a good explanation. I didn't want to tell her about my thing with Calypso. I frowned at the thought, she'd murder me with her knife. Or worse, she'd actually be hurt by it. I imagined her calling me an _ilithios _while she yelled at me, lecturing me on how dangerous and reckless I was.

Instead, she hugged me tigher as I told her. _"I'm glad your back. And nobody knows about what happened just now. Or I _will _murder you."_

I smiled, _"Go back. I'll let them know I'm not dead in about thirty seconds."_

_ End of Flashback_

I wondered if Annabeth knew I'd come back, or believed I was gone forever. I wondered what she felt when she held the sky. When she first met me and Grover. I wondered what went on inside her head, period.

The elevator made a _ding_, and I proceeded inside the first room across the hallway. She looked like energy had been sucked out of her, leaving her weak and small. Her head layed against my chest, making my adrenaline pump throughout my body.

I layed her on the bed, then looked outside; it was bad. Thalia and the Hunters were outside fighting a huge Chimera. I pulled Riptide, and took another glance at Annabeth's pleading eyes.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain. I'm fine here. Kick back, eat some nectar. Watch a little movie," she said jokingly. "But honestly, I'll probably sleep and be back on my feet tomorrow." I took another good look at her, as if it would be my last.

"I promise I'll be back in no time. An hour."

She nodded, and I was gone.

_Annabeth_

Percy leapt from the window, and I pondered what was going on. Why he had to leave, and if it was something so dangerous that he had to _promise _to be back.

Oh, well. Percy's fine, he's not stupid enough to get killed. Or get stabbed by the only knife that would happen to have poison lined on it.

I slipped my eyes shut, but felt the pounding of blood in my infected wound. There would be an ugly scar, for sure. I didn't care about that. It was the whole _recovery period _I was worried about. I wanted desperately to help everyone I could.

I felt some of the woozieness kick in. I watched ever so slowly as everything began to tilt sideways, and I felt my breath hitch.

Sinking, I was. Underwater, hearing the Siren's song. Percy wasn't there to save my butt this time. My lungs filled with water, and as soon as they did, I was out cold.

_"Annabeth?" _A clouded voice asked. Travis? Silena? Percy? I didn't know. It didn't have a tone to it's voice.

I was fine, but lost alot of blood. Hallucinations were normal at this point, I guessed.

_"She's asleep." _A different voice said. I recgonized this one as Rachel Dare, the one I wasn't really crazy about.

_"She's breathing awfully slow.."_

_ "Calm your jets. She needs the sleep."_

They both stopped, and I went back to being in the blue.

I snapped awake with a jolt, my arm pulsing a bit. "What time is it?" I asked, looking around the dark room, but only finding the outline of Rachel.

"About eleven PM. Percy's out battling."

"Still?" I asked, rubbing my head with my good arm, feeling that my fever was gone.

"No. You were out for about two days, which isn't surprising. And your fever sweat itself out. We had to change your blankets because you were sweating."

I stood up, swaying a bit, but still fine. Heading to the bathroom, I turned the light on and looked at myself.

My hair more of a wreck than it normally was. My eyes were still red. I wore a red cami, and gray pajama shorts. I must've been pretty warm. Knowing Percy, he panicked. He wasn't around sick people that often.

I'd missed too much. I looked at my still scabby arm, the nectar was not working as fast as they expected. As I expected. The green was gone, but it still looked like I'd taken a good hit. After bandaging it back up, I walked back into the main room of the hotel bedroom.

"Rachel, what did I miss?"

"Nothing, really. Nobody's winning. But we're taking a huge hit. Ares cabin came to help out."

"If I went out to help.." I began, trailing off.

"Percy would personally kill me. He made me stay just to make sure you didn't try to go out and 'help'," Rachel confirmed.

I sighed. As much as I didn't like the idea, they were right. I was still too easy of a target. Maybe tomorrow I'd be able to. _Maybe. _

I shivered and took a look at the air conditioner. It was below fifty degrees. I turned it up, being generous with the heat.

"You're cold?" I heard Percy's voice whisper. "Rachel, can you give us a second?" I saw the shadow of the door open, then close, leaving us in the dark again.

"You want to help," Percy guessed.

"I do. But I know I can't so you don't need to try something stupid to stop me."

I couldn't see Percy's outline, but knew he was still in the room. It was silent except for the groaning sound the air conditioner made.

"At least, not tonight," I added. "I can carry my own weight."

"Annabeth -,"

"Percy," I mocked.

"You need to give your body time to heal." Where was this coming from? Normally, Percy would make some kind of a joke about how he'd push me in front of a bus to show me that I'm weak and need more time to get better. Not to _give my body time to heal. _It was just weird for Percy, of all people.

No, he decides to be sincere and sweet now.

I crawled to the middle of the bed, only to feel Percy's weight occupy the other half. We both sat cross-legged, facing one another.

"I can help," I insisted, almost pleading. No, I couldn't plead with Percy. He wasn't the boss of me. Just because his father is of the Big Three, does not mean that he is above me. I've been fighting a hell of alot longer than he has.

"Annabeth, heres the thing. I don't want to see you get hurt again. I almost had a heart attack last time."

"But I didn't get stabbed by some freak accident. If I didn't take that knife, you would have died - and that would have been worse for me."

He sighed, obviously frustrated. "Go back to sleep, I need to go."

I grabbed his hand when he stood up. "No, stay. Please."

He sat back down, still holding my hand. "Just until morning. Until then, we should make the best of tonight."

Yeah, I loved sweet and sensitive Percy.

**Cliffhangers are really terrible, aren't they? Don't worry. I'm doing the second chapter now. (: Reviews illuminate my world like a lighter in the middle of a dark field :D**


	2. Our Battle Continues

**Tooold you I was almost done with chapter 2. :D Editing is what takes forever /:**

**I should be at Colorguard. But I'm not. Because I wanted to write :p JUSTKIDDING. I'm sick. D:**

**Again, this is fanfiction, so I maaay have changed how a few things went down. Or alot. I dunno, nothing I write compares to the art that is Rick Riordan's writing (:**

**OH, and by the way, this is loosely based off of "Cosmic Love" by Florence + The Machine. Check them out! They're heavenly! :D**

**xoxo -Kataang (:**

* * *

_Percy_

Annabeth's curls sprawled out behind her, my fingers played with them. She shivered, and I could tell that I had some kind of an affect on her. Her head rested on my shoulder, breathing even on my bare skin. I did not know how she could possibly need sleep, but I went with it. I'd never seen Annabeth sleep so sound, so peacefully. Normally, she told me about how she had nightmares, or some strange demigod dream. Never "I slept good" or "I got alot of sleep!" though I don't expect that from any demigod.

She stirs then opens her grey stormy eyes, which looked alot better than what they did three days ago. She layed her right arm across my torso, and then snuggled her head into my neck, before she realized what she was doing. She kept her arms around me, but lifted her head to look into my eyes.

"Morning," I yawned. It might have been around six. We both needed to get back out and help as soon as we could. Four hours of sleep were long periods of time for me, now.

Annabeth jumped. "What time is it?"

I grabbed her wrist before she could get up and make a run on me. "It's about six, I'm guessing. Calm down, it's fine. We should get around and get back out to help soon, though. I won't lie, it doesn't look all that great for us."

"Percy.."

"No, it's true. We are down half of the campers, and I don't think that the gods are coming to help us anytime soon."

"So? You don't have to be like that, Seaweed Brain! You could have given me a good incentive to go out there, help you win, and save everyone from Kronos. If you always thought like that, we'd probably both died a long, long time ago."

At this point, I'm starting to get angry, too. "What are the chances, Annabeth? That we make it out alive? That _you make it out alive?" _

Annabeth winces away from me, like I've electrocuted her. I can see the small tears in her eyes, as she accepts the idea I've offered. "I just think that you need to stop being stupid, Seaweed Brain. I've gotta go _help, _because I think we can do this, at least. You were their leader, Percy Jackson, you _are _their leader. If you think we're going to die, you may as well tell them that now so we can evacuate. Do you want that?"

I glared. Annabeth never yelled at me like this.

"Didn't think so. So lets get our sorry _pissinos _out there!" She screamed, jumping out of bed and slipping jeans over her shorts, then a Camp Half Blood t-shirt over her cami, looking for her armor, I assumed.

I simply stood up, and left the room, knowing that I wouldn't come out alive today. August eighteenth.

When I reached the lobby, I found that Annabeth had beat me to it. I took a deep breath then pushed the revolving door, following her. She's crazy if she thinks she's going in alone. "Annabeth," I muttered, grabbing her wrist, only to feel her blade pressing against my hand.

"I'm not worried about hurting you, since you bear the Curse of Achilles," she snarled. "I'm really not."

"Okay, then. Cut my hand off, I'm _sure _I'll grow a new one, like a lizard." Sarcasm dripped off each word like venom.

She rolled her gray eyes. "Lizards grow their _tails _back, Seaweed Brain."

"Close enough!" I barked, suddenly aware of the fact that she'd removed her knife from my hand and begun to walk away, going toward the Hydra that had apparently come back from the Underworld. Travis Stoll and a mix of the Hermes, Apollo, and even a few Hephaestus kids were fighting it, but it's heads kept growing back in pairs of twos.

I speak from experience when I say that the Hydra isn't friendly. Especially when it's hungry for a few tasty demi-gods.

"Annabeth, wait!" I yelled, angry with myself for the whole fight we had. I'd started it, and definitely, I hadn't ended it.

"Percy, go find a way to get close to Kronos. I don't care anymore. Die. Live. I've gone through enough crap with you, and frankly, I'm —," Annabeth stopped talking suddenly, and dove after me, saving my life for the second time in three days. If she hadn't of tackled me, I would have been crushed by a huge Hydra head and landed on my back, into rubble.

Somehow I ended up on top of her, her arms still around my waist where she tackled me. I could feel her heart fluttering under her shirt frantically as we watch the head flail around, then go still. She leaned up and kissed my cheek. "You're welcome."

I smiled and guessed that our little fight was over. For some reason, I wanted to say that Annabeth saw my viewpoint; about how many bad things could happen in this war. _As if she didn't before? _I asked myself, knowing the answer. She did, but now sees how easily I could be killed, not her or anyone else.

"Uh, Percy?"

I came back down to the earth. "Right. Up we go." I stood up and offered her a hand, she took it and let me pull her up off the ground.

"I've gotta go, Annabeth," I muttered, "I need to end this."

"Percy." I could tell she was panicking, her tone higher than usual. "Be careful. Do you hear me? Be careful."

"You be careful. Don't worry about me. If something doesn't seem right, or you guys can't handle a monster, run. Do _you _hear me? Run," I growled.

She nodded, breath hitching. "Come back alive, Seaweed Brain," she said before I was running. Running to find Kronos, as if it were that easy. Running to save a few lives.

_Annabeth's POV_

I felt the air that was in my lungs get knocked out of me. The Hydra didn't want to go down to a few demi-gods this time around. I stood back up, and heard Clarisse's voice, "Ares cabin! Children of the war god, come to help!" I thanked the gods silently, we needed their help, as much as I hate to admit it, that we needed the Ares cabin's help.

"Annabeth, go find Percy! We were just helping him, but he.. arg! Die!" Chris yelled, trying to protect Clarisse.

I felt something inside me die. I immediately jumped up as the rain began, as the thunder roared. Zeus must have been angry.

I ran, and ran. No matter how fast I ran, there was no sight of the son of Poseidon anywhere. It didn't matter how many times I thought he died, got hurt, anything. I couldn't shake the feeling that I wouldn't be the one to find him. I heard Clarisse scream, "Retreat! The enemy is closing in!"

I suddenly caught the sight of Clarisse carrying a limp body. I huffed a breath of refusal. I couldn't just let Percy be destroyed by this Titan! I couldn't decide what to do. The world was ending, and I was worrying about the stupid Percy Jackson. I sighed, and ran in toward the hotel. I couldn't see much past the rain, the _heavy _rain, at that.

Lightning lit up the suddenly dark sky. I pushed the revolving door, and was confronted by the sight of Silena, laying in the exact spot I was, Clarisse leaned over her, praying to Aphrodite. I knelt next to her, "What.. What happened?"

"Charles..," Silena murmured. "I see Charles. He's waiting for me."

"No, Silena, you're strong! You're not dying on me. Not on us," Clarisse cried. "You're a hero, Silena. A _hero." _

Silena smiled a small smile. A tear ran down her cheek. I bit my lip, wondering if Aphrodite could hear our prayers. I felt something in my stomach clench, then looked behind me. The storm was worse, thirty times worse. The water in the harbor was brewing up so bad, Oceanus could have won the war and taken over the ocean.

"Oh, Styx," I whispered, though I didn't know if the thunder rumbled, it was already bad out there. "Percy!I stammered. "Where's Percy?"

Silena mumbled, "Percy was always so nice to the Aphrodite girls."

_Hm, I wonder why. _

"Go and look for him, if you're so worried!" Clarisse spat. I brought my knees to my chin, and Chris frowned.

"He'll be fine, Annabeth," he reassured me, but I wasn't too sure. Twice, now, Percy could have been dead had I not been there.

Silena's eyes rolled back, and I closed her eyes, then told them we needed to get back out there and help Percy the second the storm was over, but it wasn't looking too great for either one of us. Percy was right. What are the chances that we die? Pretty great.

He'd left me in the dark. I wasn't angry, I wasn't sad. But I was worried. What if I never saw him again? And his last words to me were about protecting myself? "I need to go and.." I mumbled, never finishing the sentence and finding myself back in the room where Percy and I had woken up together in.

The storm raged on, possibly destroying ships, killing sleeping people aboard. The stars should have been visible by now, it should have been a clear August night back at camp. It wasn't , though.

I sighed and sat on the bed, sinking into it and rolling on my side. Everything was falling apart. Silena was dead, Percy very well _might be, _the world was ending as I spoke, and all I was worried about was if I'd see the green-eyed fool ever again.

I leaned over myself, and let myself feel emotion. My chest rose once, then fell in small, ragged breaths. I felt tears brimming my eyes, and after a few seconds, then fell over, down my cheek. I held my arms to my stomach, as if they were burned and holding them close subsided the pain. I made muffled cries, loud enough for only me to hear. I cried until my throat was raw; and until I couldn't make much sound at all.

It was apparent that the storm wasn't going to stop anytime soon. I found myself looking out the window, seeing nothing but the tree that was next to the window. I opened it, and found out that it was unbearably cold, now. I looked closer outside to find that I saw a person. _A person. _Were the mortals waking up? Or was it one of us who needed help? I couldn't risk it, what if it was a mortal?

I slipped on a silver parka that Thalia gave to me one time, and put the hood up, snaking out the window and down the tree.

"You! Hold still," I commanded. "Unless you want to feel the wrath of my blade."

But when I heard the voice, I softened. "Yes ma'am," Percy's voice rang out. "P-Percy?" I stuttered, shivering away. I couldn't see clearly, I couldn't see past the rain and fog.

"You look cold, it's over, Annabeth. I won!" Something inside me rose, but fell again when I saw that there was only one eyeball. Right in the middle, and there was a cyclops across me, about the size of Tyson, the last time I saw him.

I pulled my knife, ready to fight. But how could I fight, I couldn't see?

It was a trick, and I fell for it. If it were really Percy, he would have come in the plaza and met us inside.

I fell for it.

* * *

**Like? Love? Hate? Okay? Please let me know, because I honestly don't know. This took me like less than 45 minutes to write and edit. Uhh. That's pretty half-assed, right?**

**And this isn't supposed to be an AU, promise. I'm trying to stick to the storyline, but change it up, too. I don't own anything - just a huge Percy Jackson fan. (:**

**Oh, by the way, I've gotten a few PM's, and a lot of people have asked me if I like Katniss & Peeta better, or Percy & Annabeth. Lolol. Percy & Annabeth, duh. I was going to write about Katniss and Peeta, but hah, I'd fail miserably. **

**Love you all! Mwaah!**


	3. Secrets

**I was so pissed off.. My Doc Manager completely deleted everything when I had 3 stories ready to be posted, because my internet went off for two seconds. Fanfiction, we aren't friends anymore.**

**Loosely based off of The Scientist by Coldplay (:**

**Well, for the second time, here's chapter two.**

**I hope you enjoy. (:**

* * *

_Percy's POV_

If my lower lip wasn't bleeding before, it was now. I felt the sticky red liquid run down my chin, no pain pinching me yet. But I knew it was coming for me, and that this would soon feel like the biggest paper-cut I've ever gotten. I was covered in gold monster blood, from previous battle I was in. Everytime I tried to move forward, I got caught in a battle of some sort.

I ran, a slight limp in my left leg. I just needed some nectar.. Then I'd be okay. I just needed to make it a bit farther.. Or maybe I could take a dip in the river..

I went with that idea, diving into the once murky waters. Now, they were cleaner than any water I'd ever been in. It'd costed me a birthday gift from my father, but it gave us an advantage against the enemy. The rivers were on our side, now. _Our_ side.

I thought I had time, until I heard Annabeth.

"P-Percy?" Annabeth's voice rang out. She should be inside. This weather was getting bad, and by the looks of it, wouldn't get any better. Had she seen me and gotten worried? No, she wouldn't have been able to see me from the plaza.

Then my voice pierced my eardrums. "You look cold, it's over, Annabeth. I won!" I almost had a cow. If I was here, then who was up there talking to Annabeth? Would they hurt her? I decided to wait about another three seconds to find out.

"Where's Percy?" She yelled over the rain, "Where is he?"

"Percy won't be hurt," The reassured her. Well, duh, apparently not. I was still here, wasn't I? "It is the demigods I've been ordered to kill."

"Styx," Annabeth muttered. More thunder rumbled in the sky. "Oceanus."

"A smart one. Too bad I must strangle you."

That's when I stepped in. I shot up through the water and onto land. I ran and then I stuck Riptide through the stomach, though I knew it wouldn't kill him completely. Bought us more time to get away, though.

I grabbed her hand, and we ran toward a back door of a Post Office. It was the closest building to us. Once we were safely inside, I slammed the door behind us. I just needed a second to talk with her before we went back.

"Percy Jackson!" she yelled. "You scared me!"

"It was only fair, you scare me about thirty times in a week."

"That doesn't matter! You don't think I can handle myself since I _purposely _took a knife to _save your life! _And let me tell you that it —"

"You've become a lot moodier since you saved my life! It doesn't matter what I do you always think it's wrong!" I yelled right back, realizing how we've only fought the whole time we've been in Manhattan.

"It's only wrong because you won't let me do anything!"

"Because you can't!" I finally concluded. "Without screwing up!" ..Okay, so I might have just said this in the heat of the moment. It wasn't true at all. It wasn't close to true. In fact, Annabeth could beat me in anything and everything demigod related. I should have been down on my knees thanking her for saving my life.

I watched her bite her lip. "We should get you back.."

As she began to walk away, something pulled in my stomach. I reached out for her wrist, pulling her into a hug. She immediately wrapped her arms around my neck, and I felt her eyes close against my chest, as she went with it. She hugged me back so close that I felt that we couldn't be closer if we were forced together.

"I'm glad you're not dead, Seaweed Brain."

"I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life."

"Anytime," she replied, mumbling into my shirt. I leaned down, cautious, and soon, the space between us is filled.

My lips moved gently on Annabeth's, feeling her texture, tasting her lips, my heart exploding. It was an anxious and hungry kiss. Her fingers moved in my hair, my hand moved to the back of her neck, pushing her head back with my own.

We moved away from each other, and traded the position for holding hands as we walked back to the plaza.

Somehow, I knew it would be okay.

_Annabeth's POV_

His lips were slow and light as a butterfly landing on your nose. He wrapped one arm around my waist and placed the other one on the back of my neck, securing my head. His lips slowly pushed against mine while my fingers tangled in his hair, I began to get dizzy and nervous. He'd _finally _kissed me. After almost five years, he'd kissed me.

I came to the conclusion that we _needed _one another as we hurried back to the plaza. Without Percy, I'd be dead. Without me, Percy would be dead.

Percy's fingers fit between mine like they were puzzle pieces; made to fit together. I felt him squeeze my hand. "Ready?"

I sighed. "Not really, but I'm ready to go back to cabin six and sleep for a few days, so let's get this whole thing over with. The war, I mean."

"Percy!" a few campers rejoiced as we made our ways through the lobby. Clarisse spotted our hands, and she almost smirked. "

"You guys are _so cute." _Drew said, seemingly unphased by her half-sister's death. Drew would be the new counselor for the Aphrodite cabin, and I felt sorry for a few unfortunate campers. A few passed us, sobbing.

Percy looked at me, question written all over his facial expression.

"Silena.. Silena.." I began, not knowing how to go on.

"She's here?" Percy asked, "I thought she was back at camp."

"That's the thing, Percy.." I said, squeezing his hand a little harder. "Um.."

"Just tell him already!" Drew squealed. "Silena died. I'm the new senior counselor for the Aphrodite cabin."

I bit my lip and watched Percy go from perfectly happy, to worried.

_Breathe, _I reminded myself.

"It's true. Silena's gone," I said, my voice hoarse. I wondered if Percy and I would be like her and Beckendorf were. So in love. Or maybe not. That just sounded wrong for me to say.

I looked down at our hands, and suddenly felt worse. There was a w_ar, _and I was worried about how Percy and I would be when we got back to camp.

He let go, making my stomach drop. I kept my facial expression hard, though. "We're leaving in two hours of Olympus, everyone! Eat, heal, rest. We're going to end this."

Then he walked away from me, toward the wounded.

I made my way up to the room, looking for my good armor. Thalia caught up, grabbing my shoulder.

"Annabeth, you and Percy?.."

"I know, it was stupid," I said, figuring she meant the whole 'knife' thing.

She wrinkled her nose. "No, I mean are you guys like..,"

"Oh, no. Yes. I don't know, Thalia. He kissed me, then sort of didn't say anything about it after."

"Was it good?" Thalia asked, and suddenly, I felt like I was twelve again. Talking about boys like it was no problem.

"Amazing. He's_ more_ than an _amazing_ kisser," I admitted, blushing. And it was the truth.

Thalia smiled, and said good-bye as she rushed off toward the other Hunters. I continued onto the room, and the second I hit the air conditioned room, I hit the bed. Just an hour of sleep.

I closed my eyes, and let myself drift.

_You stand at an empty shore, staring forward until the horizon dissolves into a white haze. You know that there are other ways for you to write your story, newer ways, but for now, they are lost beneath the of the sea. You can see one part of those worlds, though, a part transparent to infinity: the one sky._

_I stood at camp, the cold water rushing over my bare feet. I should have been training, or doing something productive. I should have waited for the dark of night. _

_Suddenly, everything's gone. I stand in the middle of blackness, waiting for something to break abruptly from the darkness. I was blind. I couldn't see. I was done for. _

Then my eyes snapped open. It was a nightmare. A short one at that, Percy stood before me. He was smiling. "So," he began. "I'm more than an amazing kisser?"

I felt my face become warm. "A little bit?"

"We leave in an hour," Percy said, sitting next to me, our legs touching. "Are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" I asked, "Percy, you're the one who has to go in and defeat Kronos. We're just here to help."

"Makes me all better about dying," Percy said miserably. Suddenly, he was in close to my ear. "But I know it's for a good cause."

Then his lips were on my neck, and I was a goner.

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**I think that there's only going to be one more chapter. Or two. It depends.**

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	4. A Decade Under the Influence

**I just wanted to say that you guys are the best! Rainbows are definitely the only thing in my stomach! :D **

**There's not much more to say, than enjoy chapter 4! :D Oh by the way, this is sort of more by the storyline than the rest of the chapters. Love you guys!  
**

**/I originally wrote this chapter like 4 days ago, but I sort of forgot to update it..Lololol. SORRY! I thought i uploaded it. xD/**

**xoxo -Kataang (:**

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_Annabeth's POV_

We were getting ready to leave the plaza. Percy had reassured me that he'd be fine, but just incase, I needed to know when to get our campers safely out if we needed to run. I prayed to the Gods that nothing would go wrong, that nothing would happen with Percy. My Seaweed Brain.

There was no break in the storm as we led the remaining healthy campers to Mount Olympus, the six-hundredth floor of the Empire State Building.

Percy and I were separated quickly; we were in separate elevators going up. I couldn't catch up. I kept my mind on leading my group to the throne room. I'd been to Olympus only a few times, but I knew exactly where I was going.

Olympus was in ruins. A few rounded bushes were on fire; and the benches in the park the gods never used were sprawled out and broken in about twelve different pieces each. Some of the fountains were upside down, looking as if they had been flipped with Greek Fire. I sighed. "Let's keep _prochorisoume," _I said, which means "keep moving".

Percy's group was already at the throne room, meaning we'd fallen behind. We dodged items that were on fire while making our way to meet up with them. It didn't seem to get any closer until we were actually _in _the throne "room" which was bigger than camp.

There, I found Luke. Maybe it wasn't Luke, I didn't know anymore. I secretly always hoped that Luke would show back up at camp, same baby blue eyes and a smile as he led to Hermes cabin. Now, his eyes burned a strange and alien gold, a flicker of anger in them each time I saw them. His scar was gone, his spirit was gone. His voice wasn't even there anymore. He didn't even relatively look like the Luke I'd loved and missed for the last few years.

Percy must have said something to make Kronos snarl. I looked up and found the Luke's old weapon, Backbiter, was now in Luke's hand, a deadly smile on his face. Not of joy, but one of mental happiness. When I say mental, I mean insane, crazy.

Something in my face changed, my eyebrows lifted. "Percy! The blade! It's still —" Ethan charged at me, and I knocked him away from me with a simple slash from my dagger. "It's still cursed!"

Percy nodded, glaring at Ethan. I turned and faced Ethan, too. "This isn't worth it," I reminded him, "If the world ends, you simply die soon enough, too. He's _using _you, like he's using Luke."

Ethan made the ugliest noise I'd ever heard as she charged at me again. I deflected his blade, then he tried to go for Percy.

_No you don't, _I thought. I jumped in front of Ethan, elbowing him in the stomach. I pulled my knife back out, and focused on making it easier on Percy to kill Luke.. er, Kronos. My mouth burned from the thought of Percy killing Luke. He'd promised to kill Luke so many times, and each time I changed the subject.

I shot a glance behind me, and suddenly stopped fighting. It was a stupid thing, but I thought I'd seen his eyes flicker blue. I was suddenly flying back into Hermes' throne.

I closed my eyes._ Ow. _I opened my eyes again, to find that the room was spinning faster than the zero-gravity ride at carnivals. I felt ambrosia get stuck in my mouth, Grover standing over me. It was a huge blur of tasting my dad's old Mushroom Ravioli and Percy yelling my name.

When the room had stopped spinning, I felt strength come back to me when I saw that Percy was cornered by Kronos. Ethan's dead body lay limp behind Kronos is rubble.

I jumped up and yelled, "STOP!" Kronos whipped around like lightning and slashed Backbiter at me. I pulled my dagger and caught the blow. "Listen to me, Luke. I know you're in there somewhere." I felt more blood from my previous stabbing trickle down my arm. "I get it now, but you need to stop, or it's going to end the world.. Please, Luke. You're there somewhere. I know." My heart was beating so fast, I may have been having a heart attack. But both sides of my body were screaming in pain, so I wouldn't have noticed.

"Stupid girl! You're dead, I'll kill you, I'll —" He stopped. Luke's eyes were blue. "Annabeth.. You're.." Gold eyes. Backbiter was being gradually pushed nearer and nearer to my neck.

"You're hurt," Luke's voice said. I felt every nerve in my body turn to jelly. My wound stung, and my legs were about to crumble. A tear fell down my cheek. It was Luke.

I felt Percy's eyes in the back of my head, staring.

Suddenly, his eyes turned gold again, red in the middle, knocking me backwards again. I couldn't move at all, just like before. "Family, Luke," I said, feeling more blood pour down my lip. I looked over to Percy, who was now on his feet, running over to me.

Luke's voice returned. "The knife, Percy, hurry!" He sounded worried and rushed. I closed my eyes and opened them to find that Luke held the knife — suddenly I wanted to jump up, knock it from his hands then scream and holler.

I watched Luke stick the knife into his shoulder, and what I'm guessing, his Achilles spot.

"Annabeth.." Luke began, now on the ground next to me. "I love you.. Did you ever love me?"

The lump in my throat almost blocked my throat. "Like a brother, Luke. Like a brother." Tears came to my eyes, and I knew once he closed his eyes and stopped moving, that he was dead.

Finally, I'd let myself sleep peacefully, closing my eyes and slumping my head in Percy's lap.

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_Percy's POV_

"Annabeth?" I asked, panic lining my voice. "Annabeth." Her golden curls were laying across my legs, a similar scene to a few days ago.

She was breathing, which relieved me. I chuckled when she groaned and came back into consciousness. She smiled a small smile, and looked up to me. "It's over, isn't it?"

"For the most part. Now we've just gotta hope the New York isn't in too much ruins for the mortals."

She snorted. "It's not gonna look any better, or clean itself."

"Well, the rivers seemed to like cleaning themselves," I said, a real laugh erupting from her lips for the first time in a week.

"That doesn't count, Seaweed Brain!"

I helped her up, and held her waist as I helped her into an upright position. Until an Apollo kid could get up here, we'd have to wait for any healing since we were out of ambrosia and nectar.

She leaned over and pecked my cheek. If I could blush after all that's happened, I definitely did.

"Annabeth!" Travis yelled from a few yards away. She kept close to me as Apollo himself healed us both back to health. Annabeth definitely did still have a scar from the knife, but it wasn't oozing anymore, which was better.

And I held the curse of Achilles, which meant it didn't take much to heal me, since I was just banged up and tired.

Hand in hand, Annabeth and I walked together to the Throne Room, not ready to face our godly parents that may or may not be angry because _we _were the ones to defend Manhattan.

Annabeth moved her hand from mine, and reached around behind me, so we were walking together with both of her arms around me.

I smirked. Athena would absolutely hate me from here on out.

_Good. I need one more person to hate me. _

__Everything seemed perfect. I was alive, Annabeth was alive, the war was over.

Until we stepped into a room of grimacing gods.

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**Like I said, I thought I uploaded this chapter. Mah bad. (: For my stupid mistake, TWO MORE CHAPTERS! :D **

**Whut if i typed lyyke dis? wuld yuu gais h8 meh? Just kidding, I'm not stupid, I don't like people hating me.****  
**

**Meheer. Love you all! :D -Kataang (:**


	5. A Thousand Miles

**Yay! Chapter numero cinco! :D**

**Hope you enjoy - because this chapter was definitely fun to write! **

**P.S., I'm going on a trip with my school, which requires me to be gone for about 5 days. If I don't finish this weekend, I'll TRYY to post on Monday, because I'll be on a Charter bus for 10 hours, enough to write it on my ipod. (: I say "TRYY" because i'll get to the hotel around 10, and will have to shower & eat, then go to bed so I can be up at 5.. D: ouch.**

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_Annabeth_

"Percy," Poseidon said slowly. I bit my lip and waited. "We'd like to thank the heros of Camp Half-Blood."

Zeus scoffed. "Heros, we could have done it without them."

I eyed across the room to everyone behind me. Their parents thanking their children for saving their butts. I couldn't help but believe that everything would be okay for once. The gods would figure out what to do, we'd go back to camp, and live our lives again. As much as deep inside I knew it wasn't true.

Percy was standing next to me, still holding my hand in a grip. I gripped it right back, feeling some kind of attraction toward him. Not a romantic one — I already had one of those for Percy. But an electric attraction, as if when he let go, I'd crumple to the ground, all my energy sucked out of me.

One by one, we were called up. I felt Percy's lips down close to my ear, whispering, "I can basically feel your heartbeat through your fingers. Why so tense?"

I looked up at his beautiful green orbs through slit eyelids. "Because the war may or may not be over, New York is trashed, and our parents are rewarding us with godly gifts. I dunno, why aren't you?"

He paused for a minute to think. "You're here," He whispered back, getting a nasty look from my mother. I decided to keep quiet after that, not risking the whole _Poseidon and Athena don't work well together _lecture from Athena.

Sure, we really didn't work together well, but we were messes without one another.

"Annabeth Chase, my own daughter," Athena said with a slight anger in her voice. I sighed and looked down at our hands. I let go, and stepped forward to face my mother.

"Mother," I said, letting her know that I heard her.

"You know," she said, "Olympus has been left quite ugly from Kronos's return."

I nodded.

"And, we would be _honored _if you'd put drawings together and help us rebuild our home."

My jaw dropped. The gods wanted _me _to help reconstruct Olympus? My heart must have jumped up our of my chest and ran away, because I couldn't feel it anymore. Adrenaline filled my veins; and I simply nodded. "No, mother, _I would _be honored if you let me."

"So it's decided. You and the Hephaestus cabin shall help rebuild Olympus," Zeus said quickly before shooing me away.

I went back to Percy, and he went back to holding my waist, but keeping our bodies side-by-side, hip-to-hip. I closed my eyes and let my head fall on his shoulder as we waited for his name as Tyson was called up.

I smiled. This was what I'd been waiting for. Percy and I, together, a happy ending. Well, not so _happy, _but we were close enough. Before, we were either on a quest or in trouble with the gods. But now maybe we could have a break._ A break. _

"PERCY JACKSON!" Zeus boomed, likely rumbling thunder below in New York. I frowned, this could turn out bad.

"Percy," Poseidon spoke. "My son. You've saved the mortal world."

"All in a week's work," Percy said slowly, something he _would _say. A sarcastic comment, classic Seaweed Brain.

"You've been there for Camp Half-Blood when we have not," Poseidon continued. Out of all the Greek Gods, I knew that Poseidon and Percy were the closest father and son. Closer than any parent and child, even.

Percy nodded.

"And we want to reward you as an individual hero. Become a god. Never die."

My heart stopped. No, he _couldn't_. We were ruined. What if he wanted to become a god and live in Olympus? I would be nothing more than a friend he had, with benefits. I suddenly felt humiliated. A daughter of the Wisdom Goddess fell for two tricks in the last week. I was losing my mind, losing it _hard. _

"I'm sorry," Percy said, looking at me. He turned away and nodded. I bit my lip, and almost thought about Thalia. She couldn't feel this pain, she was sworn off boys. I wished in the moment that we could switch, but then rid the idea from my head, deciding that it was a bad one.

"But I'm going to decline your offer," Percy finally finished. "I can't just become a god. It's an honor and everything, but I need to stay a demigod right now. I do want something, though."

I stopped listening right there, all that sudden panic and hurt gone. It was amazing, the teenage hormone. We could feel pain in one instant, the next pure happiness.

I sighed, contempt with myself.

Percy returned to my side. I'd missed what he'd requested for. I didn't care at the time, all I cared about was the fact that I wasn't losing Percy anytime soon.

The gods dismissed us to go back to camp, claiming that they needed "time to think" about Percy's request for them to claim every demigod child before the age of thirteen. It was a great request, but how would we fit those many kids into camp? Chiron had to reassure me that it wasn't a problem for me to stress about now.

Percy drove with one hand on the wheel to Long Island as we held hands. I leaned back against my seat, we were finally going back. The war was over. Kronos was gone.. for now, at least.

I leaned my head back against the headrest, looking at the sky that once raged a storm that no one wanted to witness. Now, it was a bright blue with not one cloud, except for one that looked like a blob. I was never very good at watching clouds, they all jumbled together and looked the same to me.

For once in the last year, I didn't feel stress.

_Percy_

Annabeth was right; Manhattan _was _trashed. With the storm, you couldn't see how much damage the place took from our battle. _  
_

The mortals would come up with some logical excuse, they always did. _"There must've been some nuclear bombing, we don't remember because we were knocked cold!" _Something along those lines would be considered logical to them. _  
_

Annabeth leaned back, finally looking weightless for the first time in about a year. She had her eyes closed, her passenger side window opened. The one thing I noticed was her blonde curly's flailing madly in the wind, soaking up the sunny, warm August day.

Then, I realized. August eighteenth. That storm had come, passed, we'd "killed" Luke, managed to compromise with the gods, all in one day. And it was only about two in the afternoon.

She rolled up the window, and opened her eyes to meet mine.

"So," I began. "Amazing kisser?" I repeated, smiling. I wouldn't let her off easy for that remark.

Smirk.

"I can believe it," I continued, "The son of one of the Big Three, son of the sea god. Understandable."

Smile.

"Yes, you actually were," Annabeth admitted. "Once I got used to your upper lip being bigger than your lower."

I put my hand to my chest, "Ow. That one hurt."

As we pulled into camp, she smiled, showing off her straight teeth. I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She took in a shallow breath, a ragged exhale. "We should go see.." I breathed into her neck, lips closing in on her collarbone.

"Hm?" I asked, pressing my lips to her jaw next feeling her lean her head back again. Last, I made my way up to her ear, "I think you were saying that we should go see Chiron," I whispered, now towering over her, not on top of her, but just over her tense body.

"S-Sure, Seaweed Brain."

I believed everything would be better, that some sort of a weight would have been lifted off Camp Half-Blood, but when we found the caskets next to the Big House, I watched Annabeth's face fall.

"All those people.." I said, crossing my arms. "They died because of me."

Annabeth's voice softened. "No, they didn't. They knew going in what they were getting themselves into."

"I should go and lay down," I mumbled, walking abruptly away from the girl I loved, leaving her in front of the caskets that were lined up in three neat lines, six in each row. Eighteen people were already back at camp and at their final resting places.

I found the door of the Poseidon cabin unlocked, everything just the way that I left it.

The Minotaur horn hung on the west wall, my bunk bed on top still unmade and messy. I got lucky; the Aphrodite cabin would have done inspections and failed me if the war hadn't of happened this week.

I failed alot, even though I didn't have much to clean.

I layed down on the top bunk, hearing knocking at my door, but not having strength to stand up. Exhaustion was definitely a huge side effect to the whole Achilles curse thing.

I closed my eyes, and slept, not thinking about the consequences.

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**Yes, vacation time! :D **

**I'll post the next chapter probably next Saturday or Sunday.**

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	6. If It Means Alot to You

**I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner! D: I'm going to be honest & say that I was lazy, didn't feel like writing. xD But I'm back, welcome to the final chapter :D**

**I don't know how to spell Ethan N's name, soo. Deal. **

**Love you all, xoxo -Kataang (:**

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_Percy_**  
**

I woke up to find a dark sky outside of the Poseidon cabin's window.

I sat up and almost fell out of my bunk when I saw the fire outside, the funerals were probably going on right now. I rummaged through my luggage to find a black shirt and shorts, then groggily found myself walking toward the lake, where they were laying Ethan Nakumera to rest.

Annabeth tackled me with a hug when I came up behind her. "I'm sorry," She said, squeezing me to her body. I wrapped my arms around her waist as she settled her head into my shoulder.

"Don't be, I should have run off like I did."

"You didn't run off, you just needed time," Annabeth said into the crook of my neck. "I probably would have done the same thing."

Ethan's casket began to engulf to flames; lighting up Annabeth's grey eyes. There wasn't a look of sadness in her eyes, but a look of distance. More like she didn't know what had happened, how so many deaths had occurred in only a weeks' time.

I felt her gasp when Silena's casket was carried out. Silena was probably the only Aphrodite girl that Annabeth could have a conversation with, at least without wanting to strangle her. Silena was one of the people who were at camp almost as long as Annabeth. I knew that they weren't incredibly close; but just the fact that she gave her life to save us made Annabeth tear up.

Me? I don't know. It was too early to know if I was sad, or glad that it was over, or if I was still in shock from the whole thing.

Clarisse stood up and cleared her throat. "Silena was a hero," She began. "She went into battle and pretended to be me. Was I angry? No. I felt no anger toward her in her final hour. I felt more of a yearn. How come I wasn't there?" I hadn't known that Clarisse knew how to speak in public. I didn't know that she knew that many words in the first place. I figured that she googled them at some point.

"I did feel anger toward myself," Clarisse went on. "I should have saved her, or died along with her."

At this point, Annabeth was in hysterics. But who wouldn't be after what she'd went through? I didn't blame her.

Clarisse kept talking, but I tuned out and watched the water. It looked like there was nothing there; you couldn't tell that there was water there. The moon didn't reflect off, in fact, the moon wasn't out at all. The clouds hid it so well that there was no sign of any moon.

I realized that they were bringing out an Athena casket. There was a small silver owl perched on the top, I looked around her cabin's population, only to realize I didn't know who was missing.

Malcolm was still across the fire from us, and so was Leslie. I couldn't put my finger on who was inside the casket.

Annabeth's head went back to my shoulder, arm interlocked with mine.

"Percy," she whispered. "Can we go? I can't do this."

I looked around, to find Malcolm nodding toward the steps of my cabin. I mouthed 'thank you' and pulled her up with me, and we walked to my cabin and sat on the steps. We couldn't go inside together without someone else, but the steps would work perfect for the circumstances.

"I can't believe this happened."

"It was going to happen sooner or later. I could've not been born," I reminded her.

Annabeth gave me a look, one of her serious ones. "Without you, we wouldn't have gotten this far, though."

This far? What did that mean? I assumed that she wasn't thinking straight, like she normally did. I still wondered, what _did _she mean?

"Percy, I didn't mean that in a way to make you feel used."

"Seems like it."

"C'mon, Seaweed Brain. I meant that —"

I stopped her. "I don't want to know. All that matters is that it's over."

She huffed and stood up. "This is why we shouldn't be together. We don't get along, Percy!" Where was this coming from? Was it just the fact that our parents hated each other that was scaring her?

"So what you're saying is," I bit my tongue. "Nevermind. We should get back."

"You should. I'm going to bed."

I exhaled. This was how she wanted it to be, then I could play hardball right back.

I bent down and picked her up, throwing her over my shoulder. "Percy!" She whisper-screamed. I could only see the fire, wavering in the wind, so I figured that they couldn't see us. I opened my cabin door and pushed it shut behind me, letting her down.

"What are you doing?"

I smirked. "You said you were going to bed, let's go."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Hm, can I at least go get pajamas?"

Without taking my eyes off of her, I went over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of sweats, and threw them to her. "They're going to be big." I nodded toward the bathroom.

She giggled, an honest laugh, not stifled, or hidden, her musical laugh. "Fine."

I rolled into the bottom bunk, not bothering with the blankets yet. She smiled as she came out, and I couldn't help but to cough to cover up my pathetic laugh.

"It looks good on you," I complimented. She bit her lip, looking down on herself. She shed her Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, leaving her in a white spaghetti strap cami. Her hair, previously down and free, was now up in a messy ponytail, curly blonde strands hanging down.

She was beautiful.

She walked over to my bed and sat on the edge. "Does it? I figured that it looked bad."

I rolled my eyes and caught her waist, pulling her down so that she layed next to me, head on my shoulder. I would never get tired of this feeling, Annabeth and I close together..

I felt Annabeth's left arm snake up so that she touched my neck, as if she were going to hug me, but she kept her hand on my neck. I could feel her breath, feel her heart flutter under her shirt, hear her breath go from controlled, to shallow.

I let my arms fall to her waist, pulling her tighter against my chest. She'd dropped weight since the beginning of this ordeal, since the stabbing. She couldn't afford to lose weight in the first place, now she definitely couldn't lose more.

"I just need two more minutes of this, promise," Annabeth whispered against me. "Before my mother has a cow."

We both smiled. Her mother would _not _be pleased with us.

"It's okay," I whispered back, rubbing small circles on her back, "I'm here and I love you, and.." I stopped in my tracks. Did I just say that? I meant it, but did she feel the same?

You could feel her skin get warmer, her face flushing. "You love me?" She asked, her voice cracking.

This took me by surprise, she didn't think I did? "Of course I do."

"I love you, too, Seaweed Brain."

I chuckled, leaning down so our lips could find each other. Her fingers played with the hair on the back of my neck while I pulled her closer and closer to me if that was possible. I pulled back and kissed her jaw, angling so that I could whisper in her ear, "Why wouldn't I? Brave, beautiful, humorous.."

She gasped when I found her neck, and her face fell all the much more when I pulled away, leaning back against the small headboard.

"Love you," she said sheepishly.

For the first time, I could say it out loud. "I love you, too, Annabeth Chase."

With that, she placed her head back on my bare chest, closing her eyes. I yanked the covers over us, one of her arms stretching across my torso again.

Somehow, I knew it would be alright.

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**END. :D finally, right? xD  
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